Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid and Dr Maria Sharmina have published a paper quantifying greenhouses gas emissions from circular economy strategies in the EU construction sector
16 June 2020
The construction sector represents one of the most significant sources of waste generation in the European Union (EU), with nearly one billion tonnes of construction and demolition waste annually.
This sector also contributes a third of the annual EU greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, construction represents one priority area for intervention within the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy. Implementing circular economy solutions in the construction sector to narrow, slow and close resource loops is considered key to achieve higher yields in resource efficiency and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. Despite promising results for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, this article argues that the circular economy solutions do not always result in emission reductions by default and that a case-by-case quantification is crucial.
To avoid unintended consequences e.g. extra emissions, circular economy strategies in construction should be accompanied by proper allocation procedures, accurate definition of the system boundaries and integration of forecasts.
Read the full paper at the link below-